Allaura
Allaura Zilna (ah-lore-ah zeel-nah) is a current active member of the Brigade, having joined after assisting with unlocking the Larimar Tower to connect to Nadir's Zenith. Aside from her quirky personality, she's known for being the only (recorded) instance of a Drow in the Big Stretch. Personality Overconfident and easily confused, Allaura is not the brightest individual at the Zenith. Growing up, she was lucky enough to not be among the lower classes of Drow Society, though she was far from royalty and the clergy. She has sympathy for those below her, though upon arriving in Halintar she’s often wound up in situations putting her among a lower rank, causing some of her innate arrogance and mischievousness to manifest in troublesome situations. Still, when she sees individuals unfairly imprisoned or being taken advantage of, she’s willing to stand up for them even if it risks her safety. Growing up, her career as a performer allowed her to infiltrate higher ranks as a source of information or even a weapon to aide in those troubled, though she avoided getting too involved. Allaura is extremely passionate, with a love for anything related to her home. Though she’s slowly acclimating to the surface world, she fondly remembers the depths of the Underdark, where worries of heat and light were virtually non-existent. This has led her to remain fairly traditional, despite her more progressive views growing up. Her traditions and passions can be seen manifested when she performs, with a great love for her violin and singing. Due to her initial experiences with Greg, she’s slow to trust others, and refuses to let others touch her belongings. However, she’s often informed more by her own emotions than those of others; she is quick to get aggressive or take an opportunity for revenge, but slow to recognize how others may feel about this. Even though she doesn’t pass her items to others and is not the best at interpreting opinions, she has grown to be analytical of words and once she has reason to believe that somebody won’t hurt her, she considers them an acquaintance or even a friend. Allaura is largely unfamiliar with the surface world, and many phenomenon such as sunlight, the oceans, and weather are still very uncomfortable for her to try to experience. She struggles with adapting to a much more community based culture as well, especially given her desire to maintain her identity from the Underdark. She’s slowly begun reforming, but often doesn’t know when it is or is not appropriate to spare somebody, and how one should approach sensitive topics. Appearance Allaura is an unrecognizable creature to most citizens of Halintar, having been mistaken for a Sand Elf on far too many occasions. Her status as a performer in Vlonkelve was partially due to her attractive appearance, though she presents herself in a more alternative style compared to many drow. As an elf, particularly one that grew up in caves, she stands shorter than most, being about 5’2”. Her frame is small and generally on the frail side, though she has found much more success in using the grace and nimbleness of her body. Allaura’s skin tone is between indigo and charcoal, with the purple hues only showing when she’s in ambient light. Her hair is white with strands of very thin silver running through it, the metal being woven in. It’s styled in an undercut, with her right side being shaven, with the length falling about to her shoulders. Her eyes are faintly pink, a common shade among her people. When she isn’t in dire circumstances, Allaura typically wears a navy blue dress, again decorated with threads of silver metal, as a reminder of her home. The silver sewn into the dress resembles strands of spider silk, with patterns of the arachnid being visible. She’s very careful to keep the dress in good condition, and as such does not wear it when danger is a possibility. Instead, she wears a dark gray cloak over her armor made of studded leather. She also wears a variety of silver jewelry, including earrings and a septum ring. Backstory Allaura is the only Drow known in Halintar. She is far from the only one of her kind, but the race is relatively unknown given the remoteness of the Underdark. She comes from a city known as Vlonkelve, a cold, winter-y underground city that tends to more traditional Lolth beliefs. Despite being isolated and the unwelcoming nature of its inhabitants, the city serves as a decent trading spot for other Underdark residents. It’s also wealthy, given the proximity to a mine with a rare strain of silver notable for magical impurities. Early Life / The Underdark Allaura grew up in a lower-class household, though she was not poor. Her mother, Sollaeana, ingrained many traditions in her, including those relevant to backstab, seize opportunities, and evade conflict. Additionally, she made her perform and practice her talents in song, dance, and acting, with much of her childhood being spent constantly studying music so that the family could gain more social prestige. This attracted quite a bit of attention, allowing the young entertainer to enter a variety of noble homes, though as she herself was not from a notable house, they’d spend little time considering her more than just an artist. As Allaura began to move up the social ladder, new movements began among the community. Many individuals from these more progressive groups saw Allaura as an example of reform in the social ladder, a once unremarkable girl gaining opportunities greater than many Drow would ever hear of. Though she stayed very traditional and was hesitant to take on all of these beliefs (why would anybody consider males to be equal to females? Such a foolish idea, Lolth is the spider queen, after all), she was willing to assist in learning more about the network of royalty, passing information to those looking for a revolution. She learned how to lie and read the intentions of others, as well as how to go rather unnoticed when not performing in case she needed to silently observe. As Allaura expanded her skills in intrigue, she grew to learn more about the wealth inequities that permeated the community she lived in. She spent greater and greater amounts of time sneaking through the silver mines, listening in to deals and decisions being made that affected the whole city. She rarely intervened, only occasionally defending herself against monsters and foreigners, and mostly kept quiet, lurking through crevices like a spider. Arrival in Halintar While in the mines one day, a blinding flash of light glimmered against the silver as she and her immediate stone surroundings vanished, a massive cube of ore and rubble disappearing from the cave. A few minutes later, when she recovered from the blindness, she met a man named Greg Oft. A mage, Greg was interested in the properties of the silver as a catalyst for cold based spells. Though uninterested in the strange creature at first, he soon recognized Allaura to be unique, an exotic being, one that he could learn about and use on his goal to acquire more of the rare metal that she was brought with. Uninformed of the customs of the surface, Allaura felt isolated, and quickly bonded with Greg, finding him to be oddly charming. He often ignored her, focusing on his own wealth, power, and pleasure. Though the two were a couple, Allaura was largely isolated from the world being an outsider, and Greg was more invested in the silver than her, and eventually left her for Atropos. Furious, she left, with little means to survive on her own. Brigade Activity''' ''Siege For Tower Larimar'' Initially, Allaura lacked direction other than revenge on the man who wronged her. She wasn’t able to make it far from the tower he resided in, but eventually found her way to an inn about a day’s journey from Tower Larimar. Merl Oft, Greg’s brother, joined up with Hurc Broadblade and Rusty Legworm on a trip to Larimar in order to reunite the tower with the Zenith, though Greg protested this. Merl intended to talk with his brother about this, and Rust provided transportation to the tower where Hurc was sent. Though Allaura wasn’t initially part of the invited group, upon hearing about the opportunity (and impressing the others with her musical talents), she followed along, joining the siege party. As the storybook of Larimar unfolded, Allaura was initially confused during the friendly giant tale, and mostly tried to stay unnoticed. When encountering the ice dragon, she was able to acclimate more to her surroundings, given her colder climate home and the dragon’s similar emotional extremes. While the group rested following the dragon, Allaura used her darkness ability to shroud and protect them, defeating the storybook minions carefully when they could not notice her. As the group arrived on the level of the vampire, they encountered Greg, causing her to change her pursuit from the enemies to him in the middle of the fight. As he pacified the enemies, he begged for a chance to explain himself, though when he let his guard down, Allaura shot him, feeling rather satisfied. The Larimar group was beyond disappointed in her actions, though she saw nothing wrong with her decision due to the culture she was raised in. Despite this, she listened to their protests and agreed to avoid killing based off of emotions and to give people a chance in the future, though she still struggles with knowing when this is or is not an appropriate decision. Upon meeting Atropos for the first time, she was furious, though under the guidance of Rusty she refrained from attacking the girl that likely meant no harm. Tyranny of Dunkirk Not long after arriving at the tower, Allaura grew lost, bored, and confused in adapting to the new lifestyle. After completing her revenge, she had little purpose, and would occasionally explore the tower and surrounding village at nights, though largely didn’t know what she was doing. When given the opportunity to join Sarnai and free a group of trapped adventurers, the Speedwagon Gang, she agreed and departed one night to break them out of prison. Trapped in a jail cell with little access to the outside were Nonagon Infinity, Geed, and Boomer, a group of adventurers that were imprisoned by the dragon Basut in the town of Dunkirk. Allaura kept watch as Sarnai helped them escape, and the two soon slipped inside to lead them to safety. Before they could make it to freedom, they encountered Basut himself, who quickly defeated and killed Boomer in a fight. The brass dragon could breathe beams of pure light, a painful and infuriating ability against the darkness-acclimated drow. Allaura was able to flank the beast by climbing onto its back and attacking from behind, while Sarnai, Nonagon, and Geed fought from below. Eventually, when Basut was nearing his end, he laughed at the prospect of death. Learning about reformation and that murder isn’t always the solution, she naïvely proposed jail as an option, but the group decided that he was too dangerous and needed to be killed. ''A Dagger is Painted Red More than Once'' With more acquaintances around the tower, the row began exploring the community more, though she continued to largely keep to herself. At night she would venture outside, occasionally practicing violin, rehearsing the same songs she learned growing up as a memento of her home. It wasn’t long before Fane overheard her, the bard curious with her musical talents. He offered to teach her, though she was reluctant at their first meeting to loan out her violin, not trusting to give her belongings away again. Once Fane retrieved his own instrument, the two began practicing together, with him teaching her how to compose new works. A few days later, Mr. Curse invited the two, along with Merl and Tyane Starrock, to help clear out an infestation of beings within the tower’s gardens. As the four teleported in, they were quickly met with three floating rings that shot beams of pure light. Stressed and frightened, Allaura used her darkness to cloak herself from the surrounding attacks of the rings, and was able to help defeat one of the two smaller ones. The group was unable to fight the largest of the three though, which burnt Allaura and Tyane heavily, forcing the four of them to retreat and recover. While the two injured rested, Merl and Fane reported back to Mr. Curse, only to find him severely injured, and Bonko Daggerhart murdered. Rejoining once healed to full health, the team investigated the scene of the crime, searching for clues of who might have attacked the two Daggerharts. A variety of clues were found, such as a garlic scented knife that could injure a vampire such as Mr. Curse, and ectoplasm surrounding Bonko, indicating that he had passed on as a ghost and was slain once again following this. As Daggerharts were targets, the team split up to investigate where the knife might have originated from and who could be involved. Merl reluctantly joined Allaura to talk to other family members, and when finding Lavender Daggerhart holding her son Lami closely, Allaura interrogated the scared woman with a series of lies and threats, accusing her in hopes of retrieving new information, much to Merl’s disapproval. Though Lavender ran off, her husband, Marv, approached and offered some possible intel, including the knowledge of a plantfolk, Sneiken DeGrass, who was seen at the Daggerhart family breakfast being suspicious. Against all odds, Allaura was able to locate the hidden creature, who attempted to live up to his name. Given her own expectations of living up to Drow culture, and her slow unlearning of it, she began to talk with Sneiken, convincing him that he doesn’t need to focus on being stealthy and distant from others, agreeing to discuss music with him in the future. Arriving at a dead end, the group rejoined, looking into new suspects. Allaura now went off with Fane to talk to non-relatives of the victims, with the two first encountering Nonagon. The Lizardfolk expressed that he had no role in this and wishes to live a pacifistic life, and would rather distance himself from the tower due to his dislike for undead. Though he was not involved in the murder, he informed them of others who have been asking about the process of undeath, leading Octavian Rush to become a prime suspect, as well as others who passed by. Prior to locating Octavian, the group decided to cross off a few final suspects, leading them to the greenhouse to meet Phinks, found unconscious. Phinks heard the commotion in the room, and the smell of blood was strong; the duo later found Satin killed, and were informed that they must stop the assailant as soon as possible. With all leads pointing to Octavian, the four adventurers rejoined and found the arrogant musician in the library, insisting his time was better spent on the flute than talking to them. Allaura remained hidden, ready to shoot him if any aggressive actions were taken, though as he was revealed to just be condescending and proud, and innocent without much useful information, she fired a shot in his direction to frighten him. Lastly, the group approached Myrrine in hopes of learning more information, though she only told them things they already knew and informed them talk about the four of them investigating had spread. Upon the group returning to the village surrounding the tower, Lavender was seen on fire, and in an attempt to repair her earlier mistakes, Allaura helped extinguish the flames. Meanwhile, Tyane, Merl, and Fane pursued a cloaked figure, eventually trapping a person disguised as Octavian. As they tried to escape, the real Octavian appeared, claiming to have solved the crime, and Allaura shot him. Once all illusions were dispelled, it was revealed that Celica had been working for the Gliterrati to expose the tower’s location and destroy the Daggerhart family. She poisoned herself in suicide and though Allaura attempted to use an antidote to question her, this failed. The four quickly whisked off to stop an orb Celica mentioned in the tower from exposing the location, having to fight off more rings in the process. Fane managed to end the transmission, but dispelled the magic of the tower in the process, leaving people falling as magic ejected them. Allaura jumped from a window to escape, and the group watched and discussed with Gustav about the future of the Zenith. Relationships Family * Sollaeana: Allaura had what would be considered a good relationship with her mother for drow. Though they lack much of the standard parental love that would be expected in most families, Allaura was the favorite child and she generally respects her mother. She was not given opportunities for free time as a child, instead being required to constantly practice her performance skills, learn folk stories of the surface, and practice traditional combat. However, part of her skills in deception and reading others came from learning how to disobey her mother. Solleana gave Allaura the violin she uses as a gift, having little use for herself, and was surprised but not hurt when her daughter vanished. * Allaura rarely interacted with her siblings growing up, as she was forced to practice constantly, and she never knew her father, as he was from a lower class. Love-Hate * Greg: Being the first person she met on the surface, and the only one she interacted with significantly until their breakup, Allaura depended on Greg a lot. With romance being an extremely rare concept in older generations of drow, the only way she likely could develop feelings would be a Stockholm syndrome situation. Allaura’s interest in him grew, though his feelings were not always the same, and as she eventually grew to realize that he did not care for her as much as her possessions and home, she fled. When drow do experience love, it is common for them to attempt to destroy the object of their affection, to prevent growing attached. This combined with the way he treated her fueled her to seek revenge. Even after his death, Allaura still struggles with feelings for him, often hissing when hearing the name to try and shake her attraction. Enemies * Melpomene: Greg’s former instructor, she was just as manipulative to him as he was to Allaura, and quite fond of toying with the drow’s psyche as well. Allaura had few interactions with her initially, but she corrupted Greg and sold much of the silver he collected to fund her own projects and power. As Allaura returned, she teased the drow about her freedom, provoking many violent verbal responses including hissing and spitting. She knows more about Allaura than Allaura knows about her, though after the teasing and the fight, ending in Melpomene’s arrest, Allaura has learned enough to know she dislikes the wizard. * Atropos: Despite her hatred for Greg, Allaura harbors a strong jealousy towards Atropos. She was convinced not to kill the young girl, who had nothing to do with Greg’s flaws, by Rusty and others, but she still hisses at the name and tries to forget about her replacement. * Octavian Rush: A beacon of privilege, Octavian appears wealthy, condescending, and as if he believes the world belongs to him to the girl seeking political reform. She has little tolerance for him, finding his ramblings and musings to be too egocentric, nor does she care much for his ‘talent’ with the flute. Her interactions with Octavian were limited; he’s never formally met her, though she did shoot him with a poisoned dart after Celica had disguised herself as him, believing he was truly behind it and that there was some magic trickery going on. Friends * Hurc Broadblade: Allaura first met Hurc on their trip to Tower Larimar. Hurc’s personality aligned with hers more than the other adventurers, given his familiarity with violent scenarios. Though he didn’t approve of her decision to kill Greg, he didn’t dwell on her actions and didn’t comment much on her emotional experiences. * Rusty Legworm: Rusty, a devout pacifist that mostly joined to help the others traverse towards the tower, was very disappointed in Allaura’s actions in murdering her ex. He was able to pacify Greg as she pursued him in the vampire story of the tower, and encouraged the two to talk out their differences. This gave Allaura the opportunity to assassinate her enemy, leaving a disgusted, disappointed, and distant Rusty. He was able to pacify her when the group confronted Atropos, keeping Allaura from acting aggressively once more. * Merl Oft: Allaura has spent more time with Merl on quests than anybody else in Halintar, much to his disappointment. Merl, though recognizing some truth in Allaura’s comments, did not believe his brother deserved death, and was disappointed with her decision to murder him. Recognizing the greater quest at hand, and the trauma she had experienced, he didn’t vocalize his frustration with their decision initially, continuing to work together. ** When Merl returned to the Zenith from a journey with Bonko, he and Allaura again teamed up and were tasked with clearing the gardens of light producing ring beings. The two were familiar with each other’s’ skill sets and at some points worked together after Bonko and Mr. Curse were found attacked, such as investigating the Daggerhart family. Allaura’s excited, aggressive, and deceptive personality frightened innocent individuals such as Lavender, further contributing to Merl’s poor opinion of her. Though as the group narrowed in on Octavian, Merl had no qualms with Allaura’s plan to assassinate him. * Sarnai: Lost and alone in the Zenith, the fellow elf quickly welcomed Allaura to her new home. She was more than happy to accommodate the drow’s light sensitivity as the two traversed the desert at night in seek of freeing the speed wagon gang. Initially arriving at the prison, Sarnai broke in while Allaura kept watched and deceived guards, the two working together to retrieve their new allies. * Geed: The Speedwagon crew took a much stronger liking to Allaura than her previous party, gracious as she helped free them. The rowdy individuals welcomed the assistance in defeating Dunkirk, and accompanied her back to the Zenith. Though she interacted very little with the salt dwarf, the two are generally on good terms. * Boomer: Though they knew each other for very little time, Boomer appreciated Allaura’s efforts in freeing him and his friends from their imprisonment. Considering him an ally, after he challenged Basut and was killed she joined the others in avenging him in combat. His magic weapon, Karen, treated her in an unfamiliar and more motherly relationship than the drow was used to from her underdark heritage. * Nonagon Infinity: Of the Speedwagon gang, Nonagon is the character Allaura has spent the most time with. The two are on good terms, with him enjoying her aggressive and adventurous personality, and also her musical talent and performances. Though they both stay at the Zenith, the two don’t interact much; Nonagon often spending his time meditating or keeping Geed in check. In the investigation of the Daggerheat attacks, Nonagon was a useful ally, giving as much information as he could to inform Allaura and Fane about their investigation. * Tyane Starrock: Tyane was very protective of Allaura as the two fought the ring beings, making sure that she would be able to safely recover after falling unconscious, despite being severely injured herself. Tyane and Allaura spent some time recovering together while Fane and Merl investigated, and also the two restrained Celica and tried to prevent her suicide. The two worked well together, balancing Tyane’s raw strength and melee attacks with Allaura’s finesse skills and ranged fighting. * Fane: The fellow violinists met shortly before the attack on the daggerheart family as Fane overheard Allaura’s passive performances. The tiefling was more than happy to help Allaura practice, teaching her new works beyond the songs she learned from her traditions. Allaura was originally a little hesitant to trust him as he asked to borrow her violin, though the two have bonded much more, with Fane helping heal Allaura, save her, and investigate with her. The two have begun to practice together in duets, with Allaura attempting new pieces and Fane improvising based off of what Allaura knows, allowing a synergetic contrast between their musical performances. * Sneiken DeGrass: In an impossibly lucky situation, Allaura located the plantfolk, camouflaged in his own room, while hiding. He was confused and frustrated with being caught, but explained his situation with honesty, feeling his name dictated his destiny. Her progressive tendencies began to shine once more, and as she came to the surface and has begun to unlearn some of her violent behaviors, she suggested he follow a similar path. Intrigued, Sneiken debated to himself out loud and considered picking up an appreciation for music, rather than constantly being quiet and stealthy, and Allaura promised to help him on this path. Quotes “Check your light privilege” – Allaura Zilna, Tyranny of Dunkirk Warmup Questions What is a skill your character would like to master? ''' Allaura would like to learn how to curse people. Like a witchy curse, one that probably doesn’t do anything but you feel unlucky for it, and it’s going to run through the family for generations. It’s probably a better way of handling ex-boyfriends than murdering them. Gallery Larimar_Party.png|The first illustration of Allaura, shown alongside the other characters featured in Siege for Tower Larimar. Lilgreenfox Allaura_larimar.png|Allaura isolated from the Siege for Tower Larimar image. Lilgreenfox Allaura_headshot.png|A headshot of Allaura. Crabmalique Allaura_headshot_doodles.png|The same headshot of Allaura with accompanying doodles. Crabmalique Allaura_meme.png|A meme based off events from Siege for Tower Larimar Music Allaura’s initial backstory with Greg was loosely inspired by “Giving Up on You” by Stick and Poke. Allaura has performed Teeth on a String, Remember Me When You Sing, and Creature, all by Stick and Poke. Trivia * Allaura’s name was derived from Al Soldink and Lauren Boyko, the two members of Stick and Poke * Allaura can also be translated from Undercommon (Drow of the Underdark, 2007): ** Al – Blade ** Lau – Mistress ** Ra – Beast * Similarly, her hometown, Vlonkelve, translates as enduring icy winds. * Despite singing about foxes and forests, even owning a costume for the former, Allaura doesn’t know what these things are. * Her favorite food is wild mushrooms